Logo
  • HOME
  • ABOUT US
    • Our History
    • Annual Report
    • Strategic Plan
    • Meet the A4L Staff
    • Board of Directors
    • Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA)
    • YA National Network
    • Employment
  • PROGRAMS
    • Calendar of Events
    • Arts + Learning Snacks
    • Schedule a Program
    • Find A Program
    • Find An Artist
  • SUPPORT
    • Our Supporters
      • Our Supporters 2021 – 2022
      • Our Supporters 2020 – 2021
    • Individual Giving
    • Give Back Through Rewards
  • GET INVOLVED
    • Advisory Groups
      • Artistic Advisory Group
      • Education Advisory Group
    • Become an A4L Artist
    • Become a Board Member
    • Internships
    • Program Observer
    • Volunteer
  • Our Stories
  • Virtual Arts
  • Contact Us

Arts + Learning Snacks: Meals for the Mind

May 6, 2021 By Cindy Sherwood

Take art supplies, mix them with heaping portions of creativity, and serve them to elementary-aged kids hungry for a break from screen time—that’s our winning recipe for Arts + Learning Snacks, which are now being delivered to area elementary schools. These art activity kits have the right ingredients for kids to use their hands and minds to make an art project by themselves or with their caregivers.

Five Norfolk public elementary schools have received the first batch of Learning Snacks, which feature instructions in English and Spanish on how to create a mini-comic. A4L’s comic artist Matt Harrison designed the curriculum, which includes supplies and calls for students to invent characters, plots, and settings as they write and draw their own comic adventures.

A number of artists and board members have stepped up to help assemble the snacks, following all COVID-19 safety precautions.

A4L board member La-Neka Brown helped assemble the snacks at our Norfolk office.
Rainbow Puppets’ Wesley Huff and David Messick were hard at work putting together the snack bags.

Storyteller Via Goode and board member Diane Gibson had the honor of delivering the first snacks to five Norfolk elementary schools: Jacox, James Monroe, Lindenwood, Tidewater Park, and Richard Bowling.

Another Learning Snack, the “Zen of ‘Za,” will be distributed soon. The snack is custom designed for students with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), tying movement of the body with lines in art; activities include students stretching to “make a pizza” and creating a decorative “pizza” out of the art materials supplied. A4L dancer Jae P Renee is creating supplemental videos with visual instructions for students. Two hundred of these snacks are headed to the Portsmouth Autism Resource Team (PART) for distribution. The Zen of ‘Za will also be provided to a number of schools for use by kids in kindergarten through third grade who don’t have an ASD diagnosis.

The two current Learning Snacks—with a new one now being developed—will be distributed for free to more students via additional elementary schools in Norfolk and Portsmouth, Virginia Beach Public Libraries, the Newport News FACE office, and community sites in Portsmouth.

There’s a little added bonus for Norfolk’s PB Young Elementary School from the Snacks’ initiative. Thanks to Office Depot’s “Give Back to Schools” program, the school has received $115 in rewards from the money we’ve spent to purchase supplies for the kits.

The snack kits give under-resourced students a break from screen time and the challenge of a hands-on arts project that aligns with Virginia’s fine arts and literacy Standards of Learning. Would you like to help bring more Learning Snacks to children in economically disadvantaged areas of Hampton Roads? Click here to donate.

Do you want to learn how you can bring Learning Snacks to your school, library, or community center? Start by clicking here for more info!

We’re grateful to our partners who are underwriting the cost of these “meals for the mind”—thanks to Aldi Smart Kids, the E.C. Wareheim Foundation, the Hampton Roads Community Foundation, the Portsmouth Service League, and the Virginia Beach Arts and Humanities Commission for their major support of this new initiative.

 

 

 

Filed Under: ArtsEd, ArtsED for Exceptional Students, News Tagged With: art activity kits, art kits, arts education, arts integration, autism spectrum disorder, Covid-19, hands-on learning, learning snacks, mini-comic, Norfolk Public Schools, Portsmouth Public Schools, Rainbow Puppets, Root Beer Comics, screen time, Via Goode, Virginia Beach Public Libraries

Thank You, Hampton Roads Community Foundation

September 10, 2020 By Cindy Sherwood

Some organizations do so much for the community that it’s hard to overstate their impact. The Hampton Roads Community Foundation is one such organization. Through its COVID-19 relief grants, the foundation has extended a lifeline to many area nonprofits that are struggling financially because of effects from the pandemic.

We are delighted to report that the Foundation has awarded us $15,000 under its special grant to provide COVID-related relief to arts organizations. We pledge to use the money wisely, as we build our programming of virtual arts experiences to meet students wherever and however they’re being schooled. Thank you to the Foundation for its support.

The Hampton Roads Community Foundation is southeastern Virginia’s largest grant and scholarship provider. Since its founding in 1950, the regional community foundation has provided more than $301 million in grants and scholarships to improve life in southeastern Virginia.

Filed Under: COVID-19, Grants, News, Virtual Learning Tagged With: 757 arts, 757 nonprofit, Arts Ed, arts education, arts integration, arts-in-education, Covid-19, creative learning, digital learning, Hampton Roads Community Foundation, virtual learning

Open Norfolk Hits the Spot for Safe Community Gatherings

July 27, 2020 By Cindy Sherwood

The need for safe, outdoor places for people to gather and a desire to have the arts play an important role in those spaces have come together in two innovative “neighborhood spots” in Norfolk.

As part of the Open Norfolk initiative, Arts for Learning artists are offering free workshops in dance, hip hop, scat singing, and more at the spots located in the Norview and Broad Creek neighborhoods. Today from nine a.m. until noon, drop in for a workshop in African Fusion dance by Jasmine Marshall at the Broad Creek spot, 1200 Roberts Road. At the Five Points spot at 6123 Sewells Point Road, you can enjoy Joél Casanova’s hip hop workshop today, also happening from nine until noon.

Hanging out at the Broad Creek spot with Joel Casanova (left), Open Norfolk volunteers, and Hillary Gentry (right).

“Each and every one of the instructors that have been on site has been very engaged with the community and really knowledgeable about what they’re doing,” says Hillary Gentry, project manager for Open Norfolk. “Arts for Learning has a variety of different programming, which is really fantastic because it meets the needs of various people.”

Open Norfolk began as a way to help businesses adapt to Virginia’s COVID-19 rules that allowed restaurants to offer outdoor dining. With funding from Cincinnati-based YARD & Company, Open Norfolk helped map the outdoor areas that could be utilized and provided signage and seating to restaurants. The program then moved to its next phase of creating neighborhood spots, based on the growing evidence that outdoor spaces are much safer environments in this COVID-19 crisis.

Joppa Whitehead leads a Dance FUNdamentals workshop.

The neighborhood spots offer resources and programming in four areas: health and wellness, recreation and fitness, education, and arts and culture. Pop-up food pantries, a mobile barber, an educational program on bees, and fitness boot camps are all part of the services offered at the neighborhood spots, free for the community to enjoy. The Arts for Learning workshops are a vital part of that programming.

It’s more than just food and beverage that fill our soul,” Gentry says. “Having a well-rounded experience in our spaces is something that we really value. We recognize that arts and culture is something that our brains need to fully develop.”

So what’s next for Open Norfolk? With the news that Norfolk Public Schools will be virtual learning only for the first nine weeks of the fall, the neighborhood spots may have a role to offer children and youth who will be missing in-person interactions. If funding permits, Open Norfolk could provide safe spaces for students to gather and have fun, whether it’s enjoying the arts or playing kickball. Gentry notes that staff members at the neighborhood spots are careful to follow all CDC guidelines for safety and adults are always on site to supervise.

For a schedule of upcoming Arts for Learning workshops and other events, visit the Open Norfolk website. And enjoy this snippet of A4L’s Joél Casanova from last week’s Broad Creek spot.

https://arts4learningva.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/joined_video_13f67551408e4bf4bb58ca7ee7b895c01.mp4

Filed Under: Artist Spotlight, COVID-19, News Tagged With: arts education, city of Norfolk, Covid-19, neighborhood spots, Norfolk Public Schools, Open Norfolk, outdoor spaces, teaching artists

A Creative Collaboration: Suffolk Center Art and Theater Camps

July 23, 2020 By Cindy Sherwood

2018 SSCA Theater Camp

Get set for a rush of creativity flowing out of Suffolk starting next week. We’re thrilled to again collaborate with our partners at the Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts (SSCA) to offer in-person camps for children ages six to twelve, with Centers for Disease Control COVID-19 measures in place to keep everyone safe and healthy. The camps offer a chance for kids to interact with their peers while learning and having creative fun.

Our teaching artists have led the camps for the past seven years. At next week’s visual arts camp, teaching artists Jerilynn Ruger, Matt Harrison, and Joppa Whitehead will mentor campers on the fundamentals of drawing, painting, sculpture, and collage. At the theater camp, teaching artists Katherine Willet, Jerilynn Ruger, and Jennifer Gammill will share the fundamentals of theater, costume design, set design, improvisation, scene writing, and more. At each camp, students will have the opportunity to share their work with their families at the end of the week.

These photos from 2013 give a glimpse of the fun kids have at the camp. A4L’s longstanding partnership with the Suffolk Center began that summer and has strengthened ever since. In 2018, Arts for Learning named the Suffolk Center its “Partnership of the Year” for the unique summer camp collaboration.

“We partner with Arts for Learning because they have talented and brilliant instructors who spearhead a week of creative fun while weaving in the need for art, the history of art, and the execution of art in our everyday life,” says Gavin Harper, SSCA Program and Education Manager.

The visual arts camp starts this Monday, running from 8:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. through Friday, July 31. The theme is “Our Future.”

We had decided on the Our Future theme before COVID-19 hit,” Harper says, “so what an interesting and pertinent time for students to think about their future and how the world will be affected and how art can be a source of light in a dark time.”

Campers will work on pottery, graphic novels, Picasso shapes/Cubism, pop art, splatter painting, and paper mosaic, and will also learn how art is translated to dance. A final art show will cap off the week, with artwork also to be featured in a new virtual exhibition for family and friends to view.

The theater summer camp will run from August 3-August 7, with campers learning how to act, sing, and dance. Our teaching artists will work with students to write, rehearse, and produce a ten-minute musical that they’ll present on stage at the Center’s Birdsong Theater. The historic 530-seat auditorium offers plenty of space for family members to social distance while they enjoy the show. The Center may also offer a virtual option by live-streaming the performance on its Facebook page.

To make sure campers have a fun, safe week interacting with their peers, Suffolk Center camp staff members will proactively follow guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Campers will have their temperature taken upon arrival and will work in small groups. Hand sanitizers and wipes will be available to campers and surfaces will be sanitized before and during camp. Both camps will take place inside and outside to allow for ventilation. Please visit www.suffolkcenter.org for a complete list of safety guidelines or email Gavin Harper at gavin.harper@suffolkcenter.org for additional information.

Registration is available on-line at www.suffolkcenter.org/summercamps/ or you can reserve a spot for your child over the phone at 757-923-0003, ext. 103. We’re looking forward to a great couple of weeks.

Filed Under: News, Summer camps Tagged With: art camp, arts education, arts integration, Covid-19, SSCA, Suffolk Center, summer camp, summer enrichment, summer learning, theater camp

And the Winners Are…

July 17, 2020 By Cindy Sherwood

We’re thrilled to announce the winners of our Artful Thanks contest. Arts for Learning is a statewide nonprofit organization, and our entries showed it–Midlothian, Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, Charlottesville, Manassas, Poquoson, Richmond, and many other cities and towns were represented, as creative kids from throughout the Commonwealth used their talents to say “thank you” to our essential workers.

Artwork by Braelyn Ruby Male of King GeorgeCongratulations to Braeley Ruby Male, a rising fourth-grader from King George,

Artwork by Charlise Brown of Chesapeakeand Charlise Brown, a rising sixth-grader from Chesapeake, the winners in the older elementary group.

Artwork by Anika Awar of HerndonCongratulations to Anika Awar, a rising second-grader from Herndon,

Artwork by Windsor Gordon of Virginia Beachand Windsor Gordon, a rising second-grader from Virginia Beach, who won in the younger elementary school category. Each student will receive a $25 Amazon gift card.

Thank you to all who entered. Our judges were astounded by the creativity and talent of the young artists of Virginia. We’ve compiled all the entries for you to watch on our Arts for Learning Virginia YouTube Channel.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: 757 arts, art contest, Artful Thanks, arts-in-education, Chesapeake, Covid-19, essential workers, Floris Elementary School, King George Elementary School, Old Donation School

  • 1
  • 2
  • Next Page »
Follow Us on FacebookFollow Us on InstagramFollow Us on YouTubeFollow Us on Twitter
Phone: 757-466-7555

Visit HERE to send your letter to Congress and support arts learning as part of a well-rounded education. 

Main Office
Arts for Learning
420 North Center Drive
Suite 239
Norfolk, Virginia 23502
Phone: 757-466-7555
Fax: 757-455-9859

Join the A4L Mailing List!

Sign up to receive the latest news on arts integration from Arts for Learning! Thank you for supporting arts-in-education.

Select list(s) to subscribe to


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: Arts for Learning, 420 N. Center Dr., Ste 239, Norfolk, VA, 23502, http://www.arts4learningva.org. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact

Main Office

Arts for Learning
420 North Center Drive
Suite 239
Norfolk, Virginia 23502
Phone: 757-466-7555
Fax: 757-455-9859

Everything Everywhere All at Once (Arts for Learning Style)

No, we’re not talking about this year’s Best Picture winner (although we DID love it!) We’re talking about springtime at Arts for Learning where we have so much going on—new residencies, workshops, public performances, and more for students from Pre-K to 12th grade! Residencies Strings Impact: Fourth through sixth graders at three elementary schools in […]

Join the A4L Mailing List!

Sign up to receive the latest news on arts integration from Arts for Learning! Thank you for supporting arts-in-education.

Select list(s) to subscribe to


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: Arts for Learning, http://www.arts4learningva.org. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact

Signature Sponsor:

Copyright © 2023 · Young Audiences | Arts For Learning | Virginia

×